Home from the hospital

Buckwirth
Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
As I've posted before, I had my surgery on 1-10. It took six hours (4:30-10:30pm), removed the entire rectum (anus, sphincter, everything) and cost me about two pints of blood. After a brief stay in recovery they moved me back to my room, reduced my pain meds to 20% of the pre-surgical level, and failed to re-connect the nurse call button. Needless to say I woke up in a crisis.

Most of that got resolved, and my recovery seems to be ahead of schedule. I came home on Monday, the 17th, drain still in place and with no bowel movement (sorry Buzz, tried the jello trick to no effect). Home care started on Tuesday, at which time I started using the Hollister appliance, and on Wednesday the bowels let loose with no incidents.

About the colostomy, turns out that even though I am 6'4" tall, I have a short waist, so we all agreed to cut the hole above the belt line, clothes have always been a challenge for me, this can only make it more so.

Since coming home I spend most of my time in bed, on my right side or on my back. The good news is that I can do a passable imitation of work from this position and am back to getting paid. Not sure that I am making the best decisions, as I am still taking 120mg of ms-contin every day ;)

The nurse was here today, and I removed my wafer, cleaned the stoma, and put the new wafer on myself.

I am still getting quite a bit of drainage, but I am scheduled to get that out on Monday.

Quite the ride at the beginning of the year, and my 53rd is on Tuesday.

Thank you all for being there!

Comments

  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #2
    Welcome Home Buck..........
    Good to have ya back............Buzz
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #3
    Welcome home
    Glad to hear that you are home and making progress on recovery.

    As to stoma placement, yea it would have been nice to have it below the belt, but I am sure there are some 'fashions' out there which will work. If all else fails, ask Kerry if he would recommend a good brand of overalls.

    Hope that you continue to do well with recovery.

    Marie who loves kitties
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #4
    Lovekitties said:

    Welcome home
    Glad to hear that you are home and making progress on recovery.

    As to stoma placement, yea it would have been nice to have it below the belt, but I am sure there are some 'fashions' out there which will work. If all else fails, ask Kerry if he would recommend a good brand of overalls.

    Hope that you continue to do well with recovery.

    Marie who loves kitties

    glad you are home
    glad you are home buck.....good stuff and working already....

    get well.....mags
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #5
    maglets said:

    glad you are home
    glad you are home buck.....good stuff and working already....

    get well.....mags

    Welcome Buck !
    Glad every thing went OK!
    Hugs!
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #6
    Welcome back Home
    Glad to hear that all went pretty well and that you are home. You will have a time adjusting to the new appliance but it will become a new normal for you. Good luck in a speedy recovery.

    Kim
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #7
    Annabelle41415 said:

    Welcome back Home
    Glad to hear that all went pretty well and that you are home. You will have a time adjusting to the new appliance but it will become a new normal for you. Good luck in a speedy recovery.

    Kim

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • hopeforcure49
    hopeforcure49 Member Posts: 111
    #8
    Feels good to be home?
    Wishing you a fast recovery. Sounds like your in good spirits. Happy B-day. I just had one on 1/8. Can you believe thay changed our horoscope! LOL! Blessings from Lourdes
  • steve g
    steve g Member Posts: 58 Member
    #9
    Clothing after colostomy
    I own a golf course in N.Y. that I work at in the summer, 2yrs ago my stoma started bleeding after running construction equipment all day. I was wearing Levis and the belt pushed into the wafer which iritated the stoma, didn't work for a week. I went to a local Dr. and he suggested overalls, sounded good but would look tacky in the club house, then I thought of coveralls, come in various colors and when we go out I wear a dress shirt over them. Wife says you would hardly notice so if she's happy I'm elated. Since this is what I wear everyday, it makes more room in the closet for her, perhaps she's lying to me.....Steve
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #10
    steve g said:

    Clothing after colostomy
    I own a golf course in N.Y. that I work at in the summer, 2yrs ago my stoma started bleeding after running construction equipment all day. I was wearing Levis and the belt pushed into the wafer which iritated the stoma, didn't work for a week. I went to a local Dr. and he suggested overalls, sounded good but would look tacky in the club house, then I thought of coveralls, come in various colors and when we go out I wear a dress shirt over them. Wife says you would hardly notice so if she's happy I'm elated. Since this is what I wear everyday, it makes more room in the closet for her, perhaps she's lying to me.....Steve

    Check the size of your stoma about a month from now
    As a rule, after a few weeks the diameter of your stoma may shrink a little, meaning the size of the hole in your wafer will change. Talk to your surgeon or ostomy nurse..... Best of results in your recovery; each day the pain will lessen and your sitting time will increase.......
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #11
    Good to hear
    Glad to hear you're home and coming along well. Good luck with everything, and I hope you will feel very well on Tuesday, so you can have a proper birthday celebration.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • plh4gail
    plh4gail Member Posts: 1,238 Member
    #12
    Maybe something to look into?
    Google ostomy apparel. There are some things that might be helpful. I was looking and thinking about trying some before I had my reversal, but ended up back in surgery sooner than I expected.

    Best of luck to you, Gail
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #13
    Welcome home
    Welcome home!!!
    I'm glad your doing well.
    I did a bit of hallucinating on the drugs at the hospital, in particular the moose head with the blue horns (turned out it was a lotion dispenser and a blue glove dispenser above and in front of it that helped me see the "moose")so hoping your work is uhm, exemplary!!!
    Again, welcome home.
    Winter Marie
  • plh4gail
    plh4gail Member Posts: 1,238 Member
    #14
    Happy for you that you're
    Happy for you that you're home and ready for recovery. Hope the pain gets better soon for you!

    Gail
  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375 Member
    #15
    Welcome home, Buck!
    So glad to hear you are back home. Now the rest of the recovery takes place and will go much faster now that you are back in your own surroundings :)

    Oh sure, not to make light of it, this surgery has caused life altering changes... but with time, you will figure out what works best for you, including diet, clothes, likes/dislikes, etc. The main thing, you are home and alive! Congratulations!!

    Cheryl
  • TMac52
    TMac52 Member Posts: 352
    #16
    CherylHutch said:

    Welcome home, Buck!
    So glad to hear you are back home. Now the rest of the recovery takes place and will go much faster now that you are back in your own surroundings :)

    Oh sure, not to make light of it, this surgery has caused life altering changes... but with time, you will figure out what works best for you, including diet, clothes, likes/dislikes, etc. The main thing, you are home and alive! Congratulations!!

    Cheryl

    Cheryl is right!
    The main thing is your alive and home. It's alot to go through been there done that and still learning to deal with life with no butt. We can do it Buck there are adjustments to be made and new feelings and emotions to experience. If I can help in any way send me a PM.
    I'll be praying for a speedy recovery.
    Tom

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